Paintball Dave's as far as I know, has always been the spot for me and all my co-worker's for everybody's birthday. Paintball Dave's has a very friendly staff. They only vamp up the price so slightly every New Year's, but that's the economy for you. Take out the rental costs and you've got yourself a very cheap and fun time.

Paintball Dave's has got a rundown look, but is totally awesome, the floors can be puddled in some areas, and in other slick with wet dirt. Paintball Dave's also has three long, narrow arenas if you will. The first, and foremost the toughest in avoiding getting hit is the "Castle Field," starting from both ends, there are tall, structured walls resembling castles. They have cool little windows to shoot through too. The place is sprawled with strategically placed industrial barrels, and if you're not afraid to dive, crawl, and roll, you got some good cover there. Hopper hits through castle window's are good way to tag somebody out, if you can angle the projection of your shot juusst right. Capturing the flag with opponent's still on the field can be tough, but I've done it... once.

The second floor is the "Western World," resembling an old western frontier town. There are stall lining the walls, with windows, barred windows, and plenty of walkspace. There's a big wooden box smack-dab in the middle around a pillar, providing excellent cover if you kneel or duck. There is also a single stall panel on one end, making the flag capture all the tougher; at the other is two stall panels with an opening in the middle, making an ambush all the more likely. Try not to blindhoot too much from these, unless you're the only one left. From one end there is a small alley way, with stall walls about two to three feet off the ground, it's more of a death trap if you dive and crawl, but is a good stretegic position because people almost never are stupid enough to go in there. On one end as well there are idiots who cram and pack all into a corner for cover, because the advancement from this point is usually tough. However, the upside to that end is that there is a tunnel that goes back to the wall behind a stall, and out on the other end, if you can reach this point, you're in a good spot. Flag capture can be easy, granted you tag all the opponents off the field.

The final level takes place in the basement, It quite a hell hole and has lots of sover, but can easily deceive the miscarried eye if you don't watch for small holes, there's a small spot under a staircase, with a wall for cover, and it has a few holes in it, be sure to check that out ahead of time lest you be tegged because you didn't see the dork back there. Sitting in there can also be a bad thing as you can be easily flushed out without other people covering you. There's also a darkened tunnel, providing little cover, other than some walls jutting out and a back hall with three doorways. There are some very dim lights and black lights which seldom help the ever changing puil size. The floor is uneven in some places and you can trip if you don't watch the footing, flag capture with opponents on this fields all the easier because of all the different ways to reach the flag.

Paintball Dave's provides an excellent selection of music for your amusement, and even has an ammo shot range for after all those great rounds you just played, so if you still got some paintballs left, you can shoot the rest of them off. The refs are usually good about seeing who gets shot, and are usually in good-spirits. They will tolerate some bad tongue, but don't use and abuse the language too much as there are some young kids with their parents. They have candy bars at reasonable rates, and have a vending machine with a small, but still good selection of soda/soft-drinks/soda-pop/pop.

I suggest drinking plenty of water ahead of time, and urinating as well, hehe... Also be sure to eat something unless you plan on hitting up the "Pizza-Shuttle" afterwards, which has a very greasy pizza, but a very good eat. The musty smell and damp air is always chilling but soothing feeling in a way. The rentals aren't sprial barreled, but almost all are in very good condition. I think one of my friend's encountered a barrel jam once, the whole night we were there, since then they've replaced it. Prior to the matches, they fill all CO2 tanks, and clean all the guns. They go over the rules thoroughly, and will be lenient if you make a mistake by accident. After each round they provide a bucket of water and a few sponges to wipe-down the paint/wet-dirt aznd your mask. You have to sign an injury release prior to playing, but I don't think I've ever seen anybody leave with more than welts, bruises, or sprains.

They always have somebody on the servicing floor and always have somebody reffing during their hours. I suggest if you have weak skin you bulk up with a shirt sleeve, tee-shirt, and sweatshirt. If you're looking to get down and dirty, and even willing to take tags on the skin, well then I suggest wearing a water-tee, or sleeveless tee. Wear some raggy pants or something, and don't wear your nice Jordans, take a rag-tag pair, as they will get wet, they will get dirty, and they will possibly stain.

Also, bring some towels to sit-on in the vehicle on the ride home, don't want to get your seats wet, especially those leather seats, they can probably soak in the smell. If you are smart, bring a change of just about everything, socks, shoes, shirts, pants, and if you must... undergarments.

The bathroom is small, but I guess it's the kind of bathroom you can expect after being there for sooooo long. Paintball Dave's will even fill your CO2 tank if you bring your own. They also will allow you to use your own gun, unless it's a noob night.

Keeping the mask on is a must, take it off even once while on the field and the ref can send you home, although they usually don't, but do it anyways. They also have some funny signs if you look around on the servicing floor. I believe one was, "Barrel plugs in, condoms on" another also mentioned that if you pay the ref they may be willing to declare you the winner for each round.

I've actually played with team Nightmare there on several occassions, and they frequently use paintball Dave's as there training spot. If you spot a guy with black swicker pants, and a black with green wave-strips swicker shirt, he's probably on team nightmare, so get on his team, and pick up tips! Make sure you also listen to the other people around you, as they may... or may not have good ideas. Support your team, go a little crazy, and meet some cool people, establish good communication if you want to win, and always do a walk-around before the matches on every level to get an idea of the environment. Devise plans if you've got time, and keep a sharp eye out for easy hits.

The only problem I ever had with Paintball Dave's is when some novices disputed whether hopper hits should count or not... and they should, however if you inform the refs that everybody came to the same concensus about a rule and wish to modify for that particular night, they will allow it. Discuss it before hand though and make sure everybody agrees, and if you just want to have fun, let the noobs have their way and just show them how cruel you can be when they have their way.

The rules here are simple...

1) When rounds are not in session, put your barrel plugs in, or barrel covers on, and turn on the safety.

2) Don't cheat, if you are caught cheating the ref will send you down-stairs, and have you sent home for poor sportmanship.

3) If you are shot and the paintball doesn't splatter on you, you are not out by technicallity, so always check to see if you've really been hit.

4) Paint spatter on you doesn't count as a hit.

5) If you go back to the starting zone 45 seconds after the round started, you must stay there! Even if it's just for a reload!

6) Abusive language will be mildly tolerated keep it to a minimum.

7) Assaulting, or insulting another participant, whether jokingly or not could get you sent home, assaulting will get you sent home!

8) If you caught somebody cheating, inform the ref, they will keep a more watchful eye out for them next time.

9) Have fun, it's a game.

10) Leaving the field of play and going to the out-of-bounds region will get you sent back to the starting zone.

11) If you're hit, put both your hands up, yell "I'M HIT" three times and step out from where you are, walk back to the starting zone. (You may get shot even if you did this, I got shot in throat four times, people either didn't hear me yell, or were being total pricks.

12) Don't climb on anything! Even the heavy industrial barrels, they may roll, or fall over and you can get hurt. Although jumping over stuff is fine.

Daves is, as far as I know, the oldest indoor facility in paintball. They've been at the same location for as long as I can remember. One one hand, this is cool because I've seen the area around it evolve. On the other, Daves has no room to grow. So they don't have an airball field, let alone the room for it.

The last time I was there was winter of '07. There was paint pooled on the ground, windows had been shot out, and there were spots on the field I didn't want to run into. Cleanup of the field would take a long time, and they do their best to keep up, but it's obvious that it's not always going to be clean. When I go there, I pack a change of clothing and something to wipe my body off with before I change.

I still like the place! The grunge is part of what makes Daves so great to me. It's a throwback to way back when indoor fields were all like this, and most were worse. The basement field wouldn't be the same if it was brightly lit and didn't have that physical feel to it. I seriously miss the PGP's, even if the new markers aren't a bad replacement. A lot of people get turned off because of the musty smell, but that's indoor paintball. They all smell like that after a while.

The field itself is actually in decent shape. The floor isn't rotting out, the ceilings are in good shape, they replace the bunkers that are worn down. The flooring is the only major problem, and that's going to happen when you have an indoor field. the pro shop is well stocked, and they actually run a good show. The place is a little on the run down side, but for the money you are treated to a good show.

If you're a speedball player, or you're looking for airball style play, don't go to Daves. You'll be disappointed. If you're looking for a scenario style field, or you have friends who never played before, this is a good field for you.

This place is kind of dumb. They arent very user freindly and there is days where you cant use your own equipment. Too expencive and the fields are not made for the every day speedballer. Not much of a caffeteria either, if any. Plus The owner dave was in a bad mood the first time i went there. must have been the flow of the Red river. The siege is by far the best place to go, extreamly cheap and feilds are for everybody. Staff is awesome, Except one guy, hes like a senior this year.

There are like 3 or 4 different fields which are extremely narrow and short. Even when playing 3v3 it seems extremely crowded. The number 1 problem I had was that the fields never looked like it was ever CLEANED!!. First time there I slipped and fell every round. I try to bunker someone, but all I could do was slip and fall into the puddle of paint everywhere. The floor is made of wood and it's covered in paint..... slippery!!!.. .. . It's a cool place for like 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3 but I've heard of 8v8s and I was surprised since the fields are like the length and width of a school's swimming pool. It's also session so on each field you play like 2 or 3 rounds. And once u play each field, ur done unlike other fields where you can spend as much time as you want playing.

The accuracy of this review is disputed. Please see discussion on the comments page.

Period ofField Use:

Just once

Date There:

November 22nd, 2005

PaintballExperience:

Less than a month

Other Fieldsin the Area:

None, ive just went to friends and shot moving targets

Review:

This is a must try!

dont go for semit autos there because youre close quarters, and itll hurt like $#@!

The courses are all realy long and narrow, all 3 of them. they have nice pgps there that are fun and easy to use, but it cost 30$ a person to get in! The people there are always nice and friendly, just dont take off youre mask.

The first time I ever went paintballing was at Paintball Dave's for a private party. I knew nothing about paintballing but I learned a lot after this visit. The staff is very good. They explain the dangers of paintballing and enforce the rules strictly. If you use their equipment I will tell you it is not the best. The second time I played I was given a gun without a safety. The fields themselves are very cramped, especially with a large group. Because it is indoors it isn't very clean and everything is covered in paint. But I would recommend this field to beginners who want to play. It is a bit expensive with $30 for a pump action pistol, I think 100 or 200 balls and 10 12 gram Co2 cartridges. Extra paint is $1 per 10 balls and I think another co2 cartridge is $.50. I am not sure on the prices because I went there about 3 years ago. I will say their pro shop is very nice selling items fairly cheap and filling co2 tanks for only $1.

The first time i ever went paintballing was at Dave's but i have had a lot of experience since then. I have personally met Dave and most of his staff and can safely say they are the oldest indoor paintball field in the Midwest and have a very friendly staff. Dave and his manager go back to the beginning of paintball and if you ever had a question about it or just wanna sit down and learn the history talk to them.
The Fields are kinda nap based but me and my team go there to drill and practice. If you ever wanna have a private party or possibly just take a group paintballing its the most fun time i've ever had.

Paintball Daves (Indoor) is actually not that bad of a field for beginners. It's where I first ever paintballed and it's great for begginners to go in big groups. The different levels are quite fun like Western World and The Basement (the tunnle).

The playing field is really compact and small, not a lot of room to move like for instance the level Western World is basically the size of maybe 4 regular size bedrooms put together. The fields are not that wide, like about 15 to 20 feet wide, but they are long.

I wouldn't suggest this field for intermediate or advanced paintballers, especially for semi. Often when I go, I go in a big group with friends who are beginners and we play pump-action but never semi. It would really actually hurt if you played semi, even if you turned the velocity down. I mean, it's so close, you can even break skin with the pumps so yeah...

If you have a few friends that are interested in paintballing and would like to go once, this is the perfect field for them! I would never really take my paintball buddies up though for a couple games of semi though.

The field also cleans, assemble, and fix guns for actually quite low prices. They fill tanks cheap also. I wouldn't suggest this the place to buy tanks, markers, gun accessories/parts, or anything of that matter neither.

The people there and refs are quite nice and treat newcomers awesomly. Their great to refer to if you have any questions about anything. I've been paintballing for a while and I still call up Dave's just to ask them about some parts or what not.

Overall, this field is AWESOME for biggners but not so great for advance paintballers. Maybe ok for anyone who play pump-action games but that's about it.

My personal paintball experience at paintball dave's was not pleasent. It took us over an hour and a half to even step foot onto the fields. The fields are fairly long but are really narrow, we didn't finish any one of our games. There is no space to get around. If your the type of paintballer that wants to just light someone up this would be the place for you. I experienced a bunch of wiping here but hey I guess it is just recball. Now if you judge a place by the people, I would definitely say theres friendly people here. Everyone is really informative and easy to talk to. All in all I did not enjoy Paintball Dave's; if the fields could compete with the people working there this would be a winner.

refs are good and always helpful to the noobs. prices are steep, but its not that much of a problem. never been to the outdoor, but the indoor is good, the 3 different levels provide a good variety, this is the place to go for the beginning paintballer